Pop-arazzi Trio

I am just embracing that this blog is pretty much a museum now: documenting noncurrent polishes in an old school format. Today I've got a few polishes from Pop-arazzi that may or may not still be in stores. I bought a few of the white capped bottles on my road trip last August, then ordered more from CVS online when they had a big sale last fall. My first shipment arrived in less than stellar shape, with one bottle having broken and spilled all over the rest of the polishes and the inside of the box.

 

Beause I'm an optimist (sometimes) and had no other option to get the polishes, I did another order before the sale ended, including a replacement for the broken bottle. These came very securely packaged, wrapped in bubble wrap that was taped shut. No casualtie. I don't know if the policy for packing changed between orders or I just got unlucky the first time and lucky the second or what. Most of what I ordered is still waiting to be tried, but I did swatch a trio I thought looked good together: After Party, Deco'd Out, and Iridescent Purple.

 

Deco'd Out is a lilac shimmer that has a subtle blue/purple shift. I used three coats for my swatch and found it showed brushstrokes more than I'd like. It is a pretty color, though.

 

 

 

Then it was time to play with layering, as both the other two polishes looked like toppers to me. After Party has multichrome flakes in a clear base, while Iridscent Purple has exactly that ... iridescent purple/blue flakes in a translucent base. Top to bottom below: black creme topped with Deco'd Out (brushstrokes not a problem so maybe it was operator error), Deco'd Out topped with Iridescent Purple, Deco'd Out topped with After Party, Deco'd Out topped with After Party and Iridescent Purple.

 

At an angle to show the shift (yes, there was an incident where I bumped my ring and pinky and messed up the polish, and didn't have the patience to redo, but I'm sharing anyway because you can still see the effect even messed up):

 

Because I felt like the flakes were getting a bit lost on Deco'd Out, I did another hand of layering starting with a black base on all my digits. Top to bottom: black plus Deco'd Out plus Iridescent Purple, black plus After Party, black plus Iridescent Purple, black plus After Party plus Iridescent Purple.

 

 

 

I am happy with these, especially given the price (regular $4.99 but often on sale ... I just checked and they're buy one get one 50% off right now). I especially like After Party. I think it'll look great over a whole range of darker shades.

Purple Thermals Comparison

Before I left for vacation, my nails were long enough and the weather was moderate enough to show off thermals, so I pulled out two that had been languishing in my swatching boxes for months: Girly Bits Basic Witch (from Polish Pickup for September 2020) and KBShimmer In the Mood (from PPU for November 2020).

 

Girly Bits Basic Witch is a deep purple with blue shimmer and pink/orange/green flakes that shifts to lavender (cool light purple) when warm.

 

 

Apparently my index and middle fingers run warmer; you can see above the cool color is fading faster on them than the ring and pinky. I ran my hand under cool water again and ran back to my lightbox to get the picture below while more of the cool color was still in evidence.

 

Another look at this beauty. I don't care which state it eventually settles in once the thermal dies as I like both the cool and warm states.

 

KBShimmer In the Mood is also a deep purple; it has pink/purple shimmer and pink/blue/green flakes. When warm it shifts to lilac (warm light purple).

 

The contrast between warm and cold was very dramatic with this one, and seemed to last longer in that I was able to get a photo before the tips started to warm up (though perhaps my hands were cooler by then having been under the water a couple times with the Girly Bits).

 

 

 

 

I realized a couple days later than I hadn't done a nail to nail comparison of these two, so did that quickly on my somewhat shorter travel-ready nails before I left on my trip. Top to bottom: Girly Bits (heat already taken over the cool zone), KBShimmer, Girly Bits, KBShimmer.

 

These definitely are in "similar but not the same" category. The Girly Bits is a cooler-toned purple while the KBShimmer is warmer, and while they both have shimmer and flakies, they're not the same color shimmer and flakies. So I'm good with having them both. And good with whatever state they get stuck in when that happens, as it does with all thermals eventually.

Great Lakes Lacquer The Deadlights

Last year when I was barely getting out of the house, I spent a lot of my nail polish budget on indies, and a lot of that on collab boxes and things like Polish Pickup and Hella Handmade Creations. Many of those polishes are still languishing in my "to be swatched" boxes but now and then I pull one out to try, like today's beauty from Great Lakes Lacquer: The Deadlights, from the September 2020 PPU. It's an orange jelly base packed with shifty pink/orange/gold flakies.

 

The Deadlights looks great at two coats. I didn't even have to add topcoat to bring out the flakies.

 

 

 

I tried adding more flakes plus some shimmer in the form of Great Lakes Lacquer Glass On, a topper I swatched last fall. I left The Deadlights alone on my index finger and added one coat of Glass On plus clear topcoat on my other digits. I don't think the pink/purple shifty shimmer in Glass On is the best companion for the orange of The Deadlights, plus it seems to obscure the flakes in The Deadlights. The combination does make an interesting glowing shade of pink in some lights, though.

 

I did like the shifts visible when I moved my fingers around, with some of the green popping off the flakies.

 

To wrap up my play with The Deadlights, instead of using a topper on it, I used it as a topper, over these three cremes: Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pump-kid (orange), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Kook-a-mango (red orange), and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Out for Oxblood (maroon).

 

Starting with my index finger at the top, it's Deadlights alone, then over Pump-kid, over Kook-a-mango, and over Out for Oxblood.

 

Another view; I can say it works quite well as a topper:

 

My favorite combination was The Deadlights over Out for Oxblood. I mean, just look at it—such depth and contrast. I am going to have to remember this come autumn, because it would be perfect for that season.

 

Now that I'm getting out in the world more and buying polish in stores again, I've eased back on my indie buying, but swatching polishes like The Deadlights has me wondering what I've missed in the months I've been ignoring PPU and HHC, distracted by the novelty of being able to pick up polishes and study them in person before buying. Probably best I don't know. I have plenty of unswatched pretties to keep me occupied for quite a while.

Juicy Flakies from Great Lakes Lacquer

I know Valentine's Day was yesterday, but pink and pink-adjacent polishes are seasonless. Today I have two flakie beauties in that family from Great Lakes Lacquer's Island Horizon collection: The Real Boss and Bug ON.

 

Bug ON is a deep berry packed with shifting flakies: I see pinks, orchid, orange, green, and maybe even gold.

 

Two coats of Bug ON were ample for full coverage. I added clear topcoat to add depth and shine. This one is so rich looking.

 

 

The Real Boss is a pinky coral base with flakies that shift from pink to orchid to orange to gold.

 

I did two coats plus topcoat for my swatch of The Real Boss as well. I know I said pinkks are seasonless, but this one really makes me think of summer.

 

 

I sponged Bug ON over The Real Boss for a subtle gradient, smoothing things over with clear topcoat. I really liked this combination.

 

 

I suspected that the crelly base of The Real Boss was light enough to allow it to be used as a topper, so of course I had to experiment. I first put down an ombre of creme base colors: Color Club You're Making Me Blush (light pink), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Bubble Gum (pink), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Wild Watermelon (coral pink), and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Razzmatazz (deep pink).

 

I then put one coat of The Real Boss over the cremes and added clear topcoat. The Real Boss was powerful enough to make the two lightest pinks into the same color as its own crelly base, but the two darker pinks did change the hue. To do an ombre with this, I'd start with the pink base on my index and work to a deep berry on my pinky.

 

 

These are both delicious colors. And both still available on the Great Lakes Lacquer website last I checked, which was over the weekend when I knew I'd be writing this up for today.

For the Love of Polish Aurora Borealis Box

Today I finally have individual swatches of the three polishes I used to create my Northern Lights Nails look to kick off 2021: Tonic Euphorealis, Pahlish Solar Wind, and Polished for Days Polar Lights.

 

I started with Polished for Days Polar Lights. It's got a blue-leaning purple base with shifting flakes in turquoise, pink, and blue along with some silvery holo flakes.

 

I did three coats of Polar Lights for my swatch. Two might have been fine, but I got distracted by the pretty. I added clear topcoat for more depth even though the polish was self-leveled nicely.

 

 

 

Tonic Euphorealis is a warm purple with green to blue shifting shimmer.

 

I did three coats plus topcoat for this swatch as well, and again, two and no topcoat would probably have been just fine.

 

 

 

Here's the embarrassing part: I forgot Euphorealis is a thermal. Since it's winter, my hands weren't warm enough to make it change, so there was no visual indication of its thermal-ness, and the label doesn't say anything about it, so I went about my merry way without capturing the warm state at all. Between the time I did my swatching and the time I sat down to write this post, my nails have taken a beating from the winter weather, so instead of re-swatching, I slapped Euphorealis on a nail wheel to see the shift. Its warm state is a very pale lilac.

 

Pahlish Solar Wind is a dusty green-leaning blue shimmer with plenty of flakes to add even more visual interest: green shifty flake and holo flakes and microflakies.

 

Two coats of Solar Wind was plenty for full opacity, so I stopped there with this one. I did go ahead and add topcoat just because; it was smooth enough on its own.

 

 

 

Here's Solar Wind in direct light, showing off its holo:

 

Being me, I had to play around with layering, even though none of these are technically layering polishes. Why let that little detail stop me? First up I have one coat of Tonic Euphorealis over Pahlish Solar Wind. Euphorealis mostly covers up the flakes in Solar Wind, though one or two of the bigger ones do peek through at some angles. The dusty base of the Pahlish cools down the purple of of the Tonic, makes it softer.

 

 

I tried Euphorealis as a base under Polished for Days Polar Lights, leaving the Tonic on its own on my index finger for comparison's sake (should have done this with the above layering combination, but too late now). The warm purple of the Tonic used as a base does make the Polished for Days warmer, too, though the difference is subtle.

 

Then I was curious how much the base color could change the look of Polar Lights so I did Skittles with China Glaze Plur-ple (medium warm-leaning purple), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Purple Heart (deep blue violet), SinfulColors Roar (medium blue), and SinfulColors On the Prowl (teal), then topped those with one coat of Polar Lights plus clear topcoat. And yes, I'm calling this experiment a success, as the base colors definitely have an effect, pulling Polar Lights more to purple or blue or navy. Purple Heart on my middle finger changes it the least, which makes sense as it's the closest to the color of the base of Polar Lights.

 

 

I'm very glad I bought this box back in November. I'll have to remember the Tonic come summer and hope the thermal won't be dead by then (I don't think it will be but when you see this next Nail Wheel Wedenesday you'll understand my concern).